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STRAIGHT LINE

The friend-foe syndrome

Muhammad Nurul Huda
***The moot question is, how realistic is it to expect our policemen to behaue phlegmatically when they have grown in a reactive culture and when complementary measures to ensure correct attitude are not available?***
The
police in Banglad esh in their often ritualistic exhortations to
elicit and enlist public support for law enforce-
ment manage-
ment are not apparendy looking into the behavioural deficit of
their per- sonnel on the ground. Reports of alleged police highhandedness with regard to journalists, lawyers and some public servants strengthen such suspicion. The scenario is of concern. We need to look
into the aberrations, the causes and perhaps actionable remedies.
To recollect, it would be pertinent to remember that our police is clearly a force, and not a service. It rules by authority and not consent. They are more accountable to their superiors, rather than public opinion or the law. Their duties are tabulated for them, and there is little or no room for dis-
cretion.
Taking a deeper view one would find that the primary role of our police is a political one. The state, rather than the law, is supreme; and the major adversary of the police is the political subversive. Under such circumstance it is getting difficult to retain discretion and resort to reasonable tactics within the law.
Media reports of police brutality can be perceived as warning signals of job stress, emphatically pointing to the mismanagement of this crucial problem. However, the democratic society expects our policemen to act as agents of social change and the protectors of rights and duties of the people. The many incidents of police brutality and high-handedness, excessive use of physical force and verbal abuse should prompt a curious observer to look beyond the surface and discover the underlying strain that exists. The highly paradoxical nature of the policemen's job makes it like tightrope walking and deserves a
closer scrutiny than accorded to it so far in our country.
The rigours of working for long hours without rest, meagre remuneration and inadequate living conditions and rotating shifts make it clear why policing is a high stress occupation. The police are expected to accomplish mood swings from loving father, understanding spouse to a lathi wielding defender of law combating a riotous mob. The job makes great demand on the mental, emotional and physical capabilities of the officer; demands that are all too often so stressful that they begin to destroy the individual.
A police officer's role in contemporary Bangladesh is rather paradoxical in nature. He comes across conflicting situations when he finds that he has to enforce directives which are not strictly legal and which the public wishes that the police would discreetiy ignore. Fulfilling the expectations of the public and obligation to his organisational role poses a very difficult situation causing stress to individual
officers. This role conflict occurs when simultaneous advent of two or more sets of pressures is such that compliance with one would make more difficult compliance with the other. Therefore, the greatly increased conflicts of role expectations, organisational and institutional constraints, unrealistic demands and dilemmas of the cop in uniform need to be examined explicitly.
In Bangladesh, unfortunately, there is no agreement among the different segments of the society as to what is expected or wanted from our police agency. In such a situation, our
policemen indulge in doing things which they ought not to do or in refraining from doing things they ought to do, to favour politicians in power, and ask the politicians-in-power to use their influence to obtain choice postings, to avoid being transferred, to mitigate disciplinary sentences or to earn advancement in rank. Thus, a necessary basis is provided for a mutually advantageous barter. This give-and-take between the police and the politicians thrives because superintendence and control over the police rests in the political executive.
To satisfy the political executive our policemen indulge in third degree methods and thus not only brutalise themselves but also degrade their own selves to the level of a criminal. This happens despite the fact that the law of the land punishes the practice of third degree with 7 to 10 years imprisonment. Interference with the statutory duties of police like maintenance of public order and investigation of cases are not forthrightly deprecated. It is not realised that
statutory provisions must prevail over executive directions.
It is high time that the police in Bangladesh get what is deservedly theirs. Their being equated with unskilled labour is untenable and ludicrous. The government must seriously consider revising the pay scales of the police commensurate with the phenomenal workload which they are enjoined to grapple with.
Police modernisation scheme should be an area of high priority with more emphasis on training entailing attitudinal changes as against procurement of lethal weapons and fighting gears. Equipping policemen to
adequately face the multifarious challenges should not be neglected. The tendency to slap financial fetters and bureaucratic bottienecks in police matters must make way for a more positive approach.
The need to eschew physical coercion by simultaneously making available better psychological methods evolved by the science of criminology will definitely cut much ice. The provision of scientific aids to investigation will sensitise all ranks in the desired way.
It is essential in our situation to devise a suitable mechanism to keep close watch on the performance of the police and make it public whenever any wrongful action is observed. This may be done by creating an institution of supervision which will ensure that the police use force and authority with restraint and only in unavoidable circumstances.
The need for creating an environment in which policemen can perform their legal duties with a sense of pride and fulfillment without feeling hamstrung either on account of legal hurdles or due to administrative or financial problems, can hardly be over-emphasised. When policing and police are elevated to a pedestal of well-deserved priority in the government's scheme of things and the necessary training and orientation is imparted to the rank and file of police forces, then aberrations in police behaviour can be progressively lessened and the police image in public perception will change sooner for the better.
The moot question is, how realistic is it to expect our policemen to behave phlegmatically when they have grown in a reactive culture and when complementary measures to ensure correct attitude are not available? However, citizens would expect that our police must be able to overcome their behavioural deficiencies to make the slogan "Police is the Friend of People" real and credible.
The writer Is a columnist of The Dally Star.